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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

From the February 13th, 2007 edition of the Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington:

OLYMPIA - The state House of Representatives voted unanimously Monday to establish an Eastern Washington state veterans cemetery in Spokane County, capping a years-long push by local veterans and the state Department of Veterans Affairs...Monday's vote means that the cemetery - slated for one of two proposed sites west of Spokane - is all but a done deal.

Currently, all honorably discharged veterans and their spouses are eligible to be buried at the existing national Tahoma Cemetery near Kent.

But with an estimated 140,000 veterans living in Eastern Washington - including nearly 52,000 in Spokane County - veterans' groups have said for years that it's impractical for families to drive 280 miles to visit loved ones interred at Tahoma.